Having dark chocolate could help minimise the risk of heart disease in people with metabolic syndrome.
Researchers examined the long-term value and cost effectiveness of daily dark chocolate in a population where metabolic syndrome with cardiovascular disease is at a high risk.
Led by Professor Christopher Reid, from Monash University, in Australia, mathematical models were used to predict the long-term health effects and cost effectiveness of consuming dark chocolate everyday in 2,013 people who have a high risk of getting heart disease.
The research team said: “Daily dark chocolate consumption could be an effective cardiovascular preventive strategy in this population. Evidence to date suggests that the chocolate would need to be dark and of at least 60-70% cocoa, or formulated to be enriched with polyphenols”.
The researchers said that having flavonoid-rich dark chocolate everyday could help reduce the number of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes in people with metabolic syndrome.
The team also revealed that the consumption of dark chocolate could potentially reverse seventy non-fatal and fifteen fatal events for each 10,000 over ten years leading to the conclusion that blood pressure and cholesterol lowering effects of plain dark chocolate “could represent an effective and cost effective strategy for people with metabolic syndrome (and no diabetes)”.
Even when compliance levels were minimised to 80%, Reid and his team revealed that the number of non-fatal and fatal events potentially averted was 55 and 10 per 10,000 people treated over 10 years – therefore meaning consumption could still be considered an effective intervention strategy.
The model also recommended that $42 could be cost effectively spent per person each year on dark chocolate prevention strategies and could be used for advertising, educational campaigns, or subsiding dark chocolate in this high risk population.
However, the researchers say that only non-fatal stroke and non-fatal heart attack have so far been examined using the model and the possible effects on other cardiovascular events, such as heart failure still need to be tested.
Dark chocolate – which contains at least two-thirds of cocoa solids – is full of flavonoids are renowned for having advantages for the heart but these benefits have only been examined in short-term studies.
According to previous research, dark chocolate is said to have benefits for blood pressure, inflammation, blood clotting, and could possibly have metabolic effects.
Short-term trials have shown that dark chocolate consumption could possibly reduce systolic blood pressure by 5mm Hg and lower total cholesterol concentration by 0.21 mmol/L.
All participants that took part in the trials had high blood pressure and the metabolic syndrome but had no history of heart disease and diabetes and were not on blood pressure lowering therapy.